As everyone by now knows Japan has suffered the largest earthquake in that country's history placing it in the top 5 worldwide in the recorded history. The date was Friday, March 11, 2011. A wiki is being updated constantly to keep all the information in one place as accurate as possible. Our buddy Lost in Ube has been updating us as well on his site as to the goings on in his neck of the woods. I have been glued, like many others, to internet reports seemingly as soon as it started which was around 2:40'ish local time in Japan which for me was just after midnight in the East coast on Friday. TBS and NHK have been nonstop in their coverage in Japanese providing ustream direct streams for those internationally to watch local television. Thank you! Other countries have also contributed footage and reports as the days wore on.

In the constant background was the thought that binds all of us here to Japan. Our friends and objects of fandom.. the Sasuke competitors. Knowing that they come from all over Japan it was obvious that immediately we all thought of the safety and whereabouts of our favorite competitors during the countries darkest hour. I'll attempt to put update this page with information gathered throughout the past 2 days and as I get more I'll continue to update it. Please note this is general information and where direct information is received I will post accordingly. Be patient as priority is concern for their family and not updating fans around the world.

First and foremost are the whereabouts of the Sasuke All-Stars. Most of the people usually forget where they are from even though it's mentioned with every broadcast so I'll do my best to put this in perspective.

All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 - He is the furthest south of the All-Stars in the Kyūshū九州,region of Japan. This area was reported to get relatively small tsunami. Not enough to cause major damage. To my knowledge Nagano was fishing at the time where he would have not felt anything out of the ordinary. Captain Taizo of the main blue ship for Takasui (76th Konpiramaru) (Nagano is captain of one of the transport ships) (for fishing details as to how the fleet is broken up please refer to the Asahi special from back in June where they fully detailed the operation) posted on his twitter account that although the news was frightening they are all doing just fine in the Kagoshima area. He was speaking for the entire fleet which obviously would have included Nagano's ship.

Edit: 3/21/11 - As I had expected I did get a confirmation from Takasui (earlier in the week but forgot to update) that indeed no one in South Japan was affected by what happened in North Japan. They thank everyone for their concern but they are all perfectly fine. Nagano included.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars.

Edit: 3/28/11 - Received backlogged email. Nagano is fine and so are the All-Stars. P.S. He said thanks for the Happy Birthday message.. theheheeheheh (ehem.. Nagano's birthday is March 30th btw.)

Next coming up the Japanese chain would be All-Star Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己 who is the Kansai関西地方 region and from Hyōgo兵庫県. Also being pretty far south though not getting direct confirmation is is safely assumed that the area was not affected directly by any quakes or tsunami.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars.

Takeda featured circa 2006 National Fire Fighter Recruitment poster

Next in line would be All-Star Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 who is from the Chūbu中部地方, region of Japan specifically from Gifu岐阜県. While his area had no direct affects as well (remember that for him to even get to Tokyo he has to take a 5 hour bullet train.. yeah.. that far out) he is in a unique situation where he might even be in the recovery efforts due to his association with heavy rescue and helicopter rescue. I do not have direct confirmation of this though the likelihood of this happening is exceedingly high. That said he and his family I doubt were directly affected.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars. Takeda is a bit tired and busy but he's okay as well. This of course connotates my prediction that he would be sent north to participate in the relief efforts. Keep him in your thoughts. Unsure when he'll be home.

Okay now we are in the affected area. The most familiar region of Japan simply because it's home of Tokyo. This is the Kantō関東地方 ,region of Japan. All-Star Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 is from Tokyo. Widespread information about the effect of the earthquake in Tokyo was limited to a very powerful earthquake felt in Tokyo itself and immediate surrounding areas that cut power instantly and stranded people who were at work at the time (remember it was just before 3pm on a Friday afternoon). Although there has been some reports of up to 40 deaths in Tokyo due to flying debris from buildings (even the still under construction Sky Tree had the tip bent because it swayed so hard) it is considered to have been more of an inconvenience where people were left without power for hours and anyone who live outside of Tokyo but commute into the city were left stranded and either had to stay at work and sleep there or try to walk home taking several hours. Shingo lives within the city limits so it is safely assumed he was affected by the earthquake but is safe. I do not have direct confirmation though perusing through the casualty lists it seems he is fine. Citizens of Tokyo though have felt aftershocks for over 2 days now so they are quite rattled in spirit but trying to get back to normal.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars.

Staying in the same region but moving over to the east.. closer to the affected area.. is All-Star Bunpei Shiratori 白鳥文平 is from Chiba千葉県. Many remember he lives far up in the mountains in Inba Village.That is actually a blessing since he is nowhere near the coast where the tsunamis were being felt. He would have definitely felt all the earthquakes. Remember also that the reported oil refinery fire (Cosmo Oil Company) is in Chiba Prefecture but closer to Tokyo and away from him. It would be safe to assume that the constant shaking is all that the Shiratori family is feeling as they would not be subjected to any tsunami damage. They are just to far up mountains and not near the coast to be affected by the water.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars. Lee was going to try to call Bunpei personally. As of now he hasn't posted yet about that conversation.

All the way to the north near the Arctic circle is the Hokkaidō北海道 region of Japan and it's lone Prefecture of Hokkaidō北海道.All-Star Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 is from this region. Earlier reports posted that North edge of Hokkaido got 15 feet storm surge. Though the casualty lists only post 1 person to date. It is safe to assume if any evacuations occurred he would have had plenty of time to evacuate. He does live in a coast town (almost 4 blocks from the beach iirc) so I was worried for a couple days until the reports from Hokkaido started to trickle in the news rooms. Being that far north and away from the intense shaking they would have been subjected to wraparound tsunami but not directly affected as Fukushima prefecture has. So I breath a sigh of relief saying that there are no reports from his region that would make me continue to worry. If I hear from him I'll update this.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars. Phew that's actual confirmation that Akiyama is perfectly fine :)

(Cut and paste from the Sasuke 25 Navi) This is the Kantō関東地方 ,region of Japan. The prefectures in this region are: Ibaraki茨城県 with 1 representative, Tochigi栃木県 with 3 representatives, Gunma群馬県 with 2 representatives, Saitama埼玉県 with the most representatives at 8, Chiba千葉県 with 2 representatives, Tokyo東京 with 7 representatives and Kanagawa神奈川県 with 5 representatives.

There are some reports from other former and current Sasuke competitors. Thanks to Twitter, ameblo and other forms of communication there are some updates. As you remember from your Sasuke 25 navi.. the one that had the prefecture break down.. This are was the 2nd hardest hit but with the most Sasuke competitors by far. Just look at the numbers above. Within Tokyo you have current champioonYuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (UNCLI #3) and a dozen other Sasuke competitors we know and love. As I mentioned with Shingo a lot of power failure and whatnot was felt in this area but to my knowledge everyone we know is alive and coping with the aftershocks.

From the list above, Keita Tomino posted his experience of being stranded where he had to walk 4 hours in the middle of the night just to get back home but overall his home and backyard course were perfectly fine and proved it on his youtube channel. Earlier while stranded he took the time to update me in saying that all of his friends (which include the list of Sasuke Qualifiers and UNCLI members including Yuuji) were alive and just fine.. just dealing with what everyone else in the area was dealing with.

This would include everyone in that photo as well thanks to Keita's message from above. As I posted earlier there have been many twitter updates and blogs originating from Tokyo. Trampolinist Shunsuke Nagasaki 長崎 峻侑 also posted in his blog that he was fine but worried for his family up in Ibaraki prefecture since he could not contact them. This area has been very hard hit by the earthquake.

Edit: 3/26/11 - Further confirmation that Nagano is okay came from Lee Enchi from Taiwan. He called him and Nagano let him know he was fine and so were the All-Stars. He also mentioned that Kanno and Hashimoto are just fine and serves further confirmation by name.

Olympic Trampolinist Daisuke Nakata 中田大輔 who posted from his apartment assuring everyone he was alive if not very rattled in nerves. He is not in Muscle Musical right now so he was actually in Tokyo when the quake happened. Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル members were touring at the time and far south in Tokushima Prefecture at the time of the quake. They of course were fine but very worried for their families of which do reside in Fukushima Prefecture (the hardest hit prefecture housing the epicenter of the earthquake and the highest tsunamis recorded).

Fan favorites like Rie Komiya 小宮理英 (who posted on her blog) and her Muscle Musical teammates are just fine (and each posting their own entries) and actually heading back north after finishing their tour. So are the teammates in Las Vegas though they are also trying to find word about their families. Last night Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル favorite and World Record holder in Monster Box Naoki Iketani 池谷直樹 tweeted that he finally returned to Tokyo and he updated his blog with a long entry. That means the troupe is back in Tokyo and were away from the earthquake prone area and are okay.. if not a bit shaken by what is awaiting them when they return to their homes.

Edit: 3/21/11 - Seems Muscle Musical has been doing several disaster fund drives in Shibuya (near the Muscle Musical Theater) that included several Sasuke competitors like Sato Hiromichi, Eiko Kanno and a few other named comedians and of course the MM members. Naoki and Sato have been updating their twitter and websites with the latest pictures, dates and stats of each day's fund-raising.

News also from fan favorite and 3 time Kunoichi Champion Ayako Miyake 三宅 綾子 has updated her blog and written to fans saying she is okay but worried about all the damage. Kunoichi veteran Maho Tanaka 田中真帆 is also doing okay. She was finally able to update her blog after a few days.

Also, thanks for finding out about Kane, since he wasn't listed yet on this list of tokusatsu actors that nerefir on LJ is compiling (he was in Kakuranger). Some toku stars have been on Sasuke (besides him and Ishimaru), plus she also has links to some of the general Japanese celebrity status lists.

I've had questions about how Lee is doing since Taiwan is so close to Japan. Taiwan's Lee En Chi リー・エンチ is doing just fine. In fact he posted on his blog to please pray for Japan as he's worried about all of his friends as well.

As for the location of the Sasuke course.. Midoriyama Studio City 緑山スタジオ・シティ is where all the other SASUKE have been filmed. That is located further west of Tokyo with a mailing address of Yokohama though the locals just call it West Tokyo. As you can see.. that is a production lot for TBS Japan which is used on a constant basis. Sasuke is not immediately scheduled so the course itself would have never been up. It's only up for the 2 weeks it takes to build the course and after it's used it is immediately dismantled so other companies who rent the space could film their productions.

Obviously I haven't posted everyone but for this is all I got so far. If I find more information I'll update this blog. At this time keep them in prayer as the country are still getting earthquakes every 10 minutes almost like clockwork as intense as some major earthquakes worldwide (multiple 6+ intensity and even another 7+) and continues to get tsunami's off the Sendai coast hampering recovery efforts. Never in a million years did I think I'd need to reuse old blogs like the Sasuke 25 Navi blog where TBS/Monster 9 decided to make "Prefectures" a theme on Sasuke. I pray for a quick recovery and hope they find more people alive.

For anyone trying to keep up with this information and are tired of the damn sensationalism in the USA coverage.. Ube has helped in finding information for us to listen/read: BLOG POST As for me I watch NHK World.

30 comments:

Thanks for doing this. I've been praying a lot for the safety of the people in Japan. I'm glad the All-Stars and other competitors seem to be OK. I'll continue to pray for their safety and for the safety of everyone else.

You are welcome David :) It's partial therapy. Though I wish I had concrete news directly from them.. more than I have.. still waiting for emails but given that communication still around Tokyo is jammed.. I doubt it will be soon.

Thank you so much for this update. We have been very concerned for the people of Japan - Those that we know of, like the All-Stars as well as all citizens. May God's hand touch each and every person. May He heal the hurt and pain and meet the needs of Japan. The entire world is watching, hoping and praying for Japan. Our hearts are breaking for Japan's people.

Thank you so much for doing this! I've been checking the discussion thread at Sasuke Maniacs about it, and I'm so glad someone mentioned this there.

Also, thanks for finding out about Kane, since he wasn't listed yet on this list of tokusatsu actors that nerefir on LJ is compiling (he was in Kakuranger). I hope you don't mind me passing on the info to her, with full credit to you in the comment. Some toku stars have been on Sasuke (besides him and Ishimaru), plus she also has links to some of the general Japanese celebrity status lists.

So glad you are going the extra distance to give the rest of the world this info. We really appreciate you effort as I for one couldn't live without my heroes in Japan. I'm much relieved that my Sasuke "family" of Yamada, Takeda, Nagano, Yamamoto and all are safe (thanks to your update). I pray for their families and everyone else affected for healing, miracles, peace and hope they know they are in our hearts and minds always.

Thanks for doing the research and updating all of us though- to be frank my mind didn't even cross the all stars due to the images and videos I saw the day it happened. My heart aches for them. I can't imagine going through anything like that.

It's really nice to see these messages of concern and support and hear that our all stars are doing ok (as opposed to the racist and "they deserved it" sentiments I have been hearing in the US as of late). Let's keep Japan in our prayers :)

I've been ignoring the negative racist things. Luckily none have come across comment moderation! I'm so happy about that. Still trying to find more people but it's extremely difficult when dealing with non-celebs. Still praying for them as that ground won't stop shaking.

Arsenette, you are truly an angel, to put so much hard work into this site and keeping us so informed on Sasuke and so many of the players we have come to love. And now with this terrible tragedy, you keep us so informed, hell, who needs CNN,FOX,MSNBC,you give us all the info we need, and we truly appreciate you for this. You say at times this is therapy for you to write this, well, at times it is therapy for us to read it. Keep up the good work.

When I first saw what was happening in Japan my first thought was Oh, God those poor people. And a close second was for the Sasuke competitors. I immediately went to the only source I knew of (at that time)to check on them (G4) but nothing for days. Until I saw your post. Thank you. It has been very disheartening with all of the US news sensationalism. Mine and my families prayers go out to Japan and all of their families and loved ones.

Thanks everyone :) I updated the Lee conversation with Nagano confirming without a doubt that they are all fine. Poor Takeda is busy up north but we kinda expected that. He trained daily for such a disaster.